Man (32) jailed for possession, production and distribution of images of child abuse material
By Sonya McLean
A man who was caught with almost 4,000 images of child abuse material and who produced and shared written content about the abuse of children has been jailed for 16 months.
Dean Madden (32) of Balcurris Road, Ballymun, Dublin 11, came forward on signed pleas of guilty from Dublin District Court.
He pleaded guilty to charges of possession of what as known in law as child pornography, production of child pornography and distribution of the material on dates in March 2024. He also admitted to simple possession of drugs.
Garda Paul Higgins told Gráinne O’Neill BL, prosecuting, that Madden was identified through the use of his email address and user name with a particular app.
His home was searched on March 15th, 2024, and a phone and an SD card were seized. Later analysis of these items led to the discovery of 3,832 images and 162 videos.
Gda Higgins confirmed that 1,601 images and 151 videos fell into the most serious category of child abuse material and involved the depiction of children involved in sexual activity with other children or adults, 1,818 images fell into the second category, termed child exposure images.
The remaining images were either animated or computer-generated images.
The court heard that some of the images involved children as young as two years old involved in sexual activity.
The production charge related to what was described as “fantasy text” which was a back-and-forth conversation between Madden and another user of this app.
He engaged in two such conversations, and this also represents the distribution charge.
A small amount of cannabis, worth €125, was also discovered during the search of Madden’s home.
Following his arrest, Madden made admissions during the interview and gave a detailed background as to his state of mind at the time of the offence.
He told gardaí that the text was a fantasy from his imagination.
Gda Higgins agreed with Philipp Rahn SC, defending, that his client indicated that he was relieved when gardaí arrived at his home because he had “gone to a very dark place”.
Counsel said his client started accessing the dark web during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said that since the garda raid, his client has been attending counselling. He has no previous convictions and has not come to garda attention since.
It was accepted that there was no suggestion that Madden ever had inappropriate contact with a child.
Mr Rahn said his client had written a letter of “shame and remorse” for his behaviour.
Judge Martin Nolan said that Madden had “created content and distributed that content”.
He acknowledged that he had come forward to the Circuit Court on signed pleas of guilty from the District Court.
He accepted that Madden had “his own problems at the time” before he jailed him for 16 months.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.
